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The day before the December 7 poll, The Northern Daily Leader sent him a series of questions asking if his marriage had ended, due to the “conspicuous absence” of his wife and four daughters on the campaign trail.

At the time Mr Joyce refused to answer the questions and queried their relevance.

His first public airing of the marriage breakdown came in the same sex marriage debate on December 6 where he defended the traditional definition of the union but said he did not “come to this debate pretending to be a saint”.

“I acknowledge that I’m currently separated, so that’s on the record,” he said.

Ms Campion was Mr Joyce’s press secretary before being moved into a more senior position in another ministerial office when Mr Joyce was forced to resign from Parliament after discovering he was a dual national.

When the citizenship fiasco entangled that minister, fellow National Matt Canavan, Ms Campion was moved again, before leaving the Government after an end of year reshuffle.

The affair has been an open secret in Canberra but until now it has not been reported because the Australian political media usually does not dig into the personal lives of politicians, unless there is a clear public interest.

Former 9NEWS political editor Laurie Oakes famously broke the news of a five-year long affair between former deputy Labor leader Gareth Evans and Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot after her spectacular defection to Labor.

The reason for that was because Senator Evans denied in Parliament suggestions by a Liberal MP of a relationship between himself and Ms Kernot.

Government sources are adamant that there is no public interest in this case and that Mr Joyce will ride through any controversy.

Barnaby Joyce with his estranged wife Natalie at the Midwinter Ball in Canberra in 2017. (AAP)Senator Barnaby Joyce with his family at Parliament House, August 2005. L to R: Wife Natalie and daughters Odette 2, Brigette 9, Julia 7 and Caroline 5 (AAP).

His office has been peppered with Freedom of Information requests from the media over the last year asking a range of questions about Ms Campion’s employment and travel expenses.

“If they had found anything they would have published it by now," the source said.

9NEWS also made inquiries about the departure of Mr Joyce’s former chief of staff, Diana Hallam, last year amid claims she left because of her concerns about the relationship.

Ms Hallam did not return phone calls and National Party sources said that her departure was not connected to the affair.

Despite divisions in the National Party room over a cabinet reshuffle that saw some of its MPs dumped one party member said that his colleagues would stand by Mr Joyce.

“He will ride this out so long as there is no suggestion of harassment or pressure in the relationship,” he said.